When the high school season comes to an end, club soccer is right there to get you back in the swing of things. Club usually has a winter session and a spring session. There are probably about 20 different clubs that you can choose to play for. Some are a little more elite and hard to get into while others are more leaned back and pretty much anyone can make it. I've been playing for the club Excalibur for 2 years now. I love being a part of their team and I like all of the girls I play with. We all get along really well with each other and know how to connect on the field.
Buddy, our coach is probably one of my favorite coaches I've ever had. Besides being a club coach, he's also the head coach for the girls soccer team at Edinboro College. He knows the game well and he's just a fun coach to have and get along with. All of the girls on my team are really skilled. We all have our skills that allow us to work well together. At practice we scrimmage a lot in order to learn how to connect our passes, shots, etc. Twice every week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we get together to practice at Sportsplex in North Olmsted. Then on Sundays we usually have a game. Our games take place in Lodi; which kind of suck considering we have to drive about and hour to get there. Besides just playing games, we also try to do a lot of tournaments. We were going to do a tournament in Canada this year but we got closed out before all of the money got turned in. That would have been pretty cool not going to lie. Anyways, we also do more local ones like in Lodi, Erie, and last year we did the Fathers Day Tournament in Avon Lake! Meeting different people when playing club is really fun. You get to try and play with different people other than your normal high school team. It's almost better because there's no drama involved. Also, when it does come time to start high school season again, its funny playing against your teammates. I know whenever I see them on the field I just start to laugh if I have to go up against them.
The team pulling a "Konrad" shorts Tuesday.
I really like playing with all of them and I will really miss when I have to call it quits next year. There's so many new people that I've become good friends with. Playing with them almost makes me just want to not play high school soccer....yeah but my coach would never let me do that.
The U.S Women's soccer team is a team that almost everyone in the country knows about. When ever there's a big game going on all the soccer girls of the world have their eyes glued to the TV.
Since the Olympics were this past summer, all the soccer games were a must watch. They have some of the best players in the league. There's Abby Wambach, who's the teams main leader and captain that plays forward. She's won two gold medals and was the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year. Abby has been part of the women's national team since 2003. In addition to the field players, Alex Morgan is another key teammate. She leads the team with her speed and quickness as she plays next to Abby on the field as a forward/striker. Switching over to the outside mid position, where I also play, is the super fast Megan Rapinoe. She is well known for her kicks across the top of the box. She also has a team high for assists tied with Alex Morgan. There are so many more team players that contribute to this awesome soccer team.
The most well known game is when they played in the championship at the 2012 Summer Olympics. They were playing Japan for the ultimate gold medal. Cali Lloyd was the key player in this game with both goals leading the team to a great win. She scored in the first eight minutes of the game and the second came in the 54th minute by a pass from Megan Rapinoe. They kept fighting the rough Japan team and got the win.
The team with their gold medals.
This team is hands down my favorite team to watch play. They are great to watch and learn from. All of their passing and foot skills are on point. There is no other team, in my opinion, that is better than them. They play quick and know how to get to goal. Oh and their jerseys are pretty cool, considering they get new ones every year.
Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach, and Alex Morgan celebrating after a goal-in their super cool jerseys.
Injuries are very common to come by when you play soccer. Almost every girl that I've played with has had some type of injury whether it be just a little muscle pull to a torn ACL. There are many severe injuries that can cost players their career. I myself am lucky to say the worst injury I've ever had was spraining my ankles...only about 10 times. Trust me you would think that it doesn't sound too bad, but really it sucks. I have to get my ankles taped and wear braces on both of them. It's not as bad as some other injuries that pop up in soccer that include ACL (as I already mentioned), along with MCL, tearing your Achilles Tendon, concussions, and pulling big muscles such as your hamstring.
Just to gross you out.
Soccer come with the ultimate price of becoming injured. Every season their is someone that gets hurt. In the past 3 years I've played at the high school, I've seen about 4 different people tear their ACL's. It can happen when a player makes a sudden movement in a different direction, or if the knee buckles inward. The other major reason people tear this so much is because a lot of people slide tackle; which is technically illegal if you're target is the player, not the ball. It usually takes a full year, maybe a little less to recover fully and get back to playing. During those months they have to go through physical therapy to regain their strength. The only downside is that it's very common to tear your opposite one because its much weaker after all the physical therapy.
The braces that they have to wear after ACL injury.
Tearing your Achilles is just painful to watch. One of the girls on my team tore it the summer going into sophomore year. Lets just say she was in a pretty good amount of pain. She was jumping up to catch a ball coming towards goal and when she came down someone stepped on the back of her heal and she immediately went down. So we kind of lost our goaly that year. But on the bright side shes back now and almost fully recovered! She had to go through a lot of therapy as well and was on crutches with a boot for a good 6 months.
Air Cast needed for torn Achilles and sprained ankles.
I probably should have worn an air cast for my ankles but I didn't. Oh well. I'll just invest in ankle replacements after my soccer career is over-if that even possible. I'm just thankful that I have never torn anything or done something severe. Knock on wood for next season! Our team is doing ACL prevention over the summer to include in our workouts with hopes of none this year!
This past year was my third year of playing soccer for the shoregals. I can't believe that next fall will be my last and final season at ALHS:( I've made so many memories throughout it all. There's been ups and downs but I still love it.
My first year it was pretty nerve racking at tryouts. I was going out for the position as a right outside midfielder. This is probably the worst (but best for me) position to have because the whole time you're constantly running up and down the field. I made the team and actually started the whole year! We actually won our first ever girls soccer SWC title. It was really cool being a part of that! Since then I'd say we have had success, just not as much as we've wanted.
Sophomore year was okay and we had a pretty good-average season with about the same number of wins as losses. I really enjoyed sophomore year because I was just beginning to be pulled up onto varsity to get some playing time. It was pretty intimidating but it definitely prepared me for this year.
Sophomore year JV team.
This past summer there was more drama going down then I'd ever expect. Between our coach Kiko stepping down, tryouts, and just stupid talking, I didn't know how we would do this year. Stepping on the field for our first game I felt confident and just knew we were going to have a great season, despite our whole summer drama crap.
In a huddle as we get ready for our first home game.
Yeah so our season didn't really turn out how we all hoped it would. Our record ended up being 2-10-5....yeah not so good. I think that it was really because we lost 12 seniors the year before and had to rebuild it. We had a lot of underclassmen trying to fill the shoes of the previous seniors. Even though our record wasn't too good I still did have fun! Between team dinners, team bonding, and team sleepovers, it made up for the crap season!
Me rocking that outside mid.
At our super horribly muddy game.
First half of Avon Lake shoregals varsity vs. Sylvania Northview
I'm really looking forward to next year, even though it will sadly be my last:( I hope we have a much improved winning season with positive outlooks! .....and no drama...but that would never happen.
Every year, us shoregals pack up our tees, shorts, and tennis shoes and travel to our Team Bonding camp. I look forward to this every summer. During late August we take off a weekend and go to a camp sight called Pilgrim Hills. We do fun activities while talking and bonding with our new teammates. It's the one time during the summer where we aren't competing against each other and can just have fun. I've made some pretty good memories from these camps.
Team Bonding 2K12
Before we leave we get a schedule of events that will take place at the camp. The first day we usually arrive around 4 in the afternoon and the leaders tell us our cabin numbers and our roommates. Then we go out into this big open grass area and play a few ice breaker games. These are pretty fun because you can just mess around. Next we go and have a late snack in the cafeteria and play a few board games. After our first day of being there we hang out with each other in the cabins and go to bed.
The "Lets Get Weird" Gang.
You think we get to sleep in the next morning? Yeah I wish. Wake up call is at 7 where we have to be at breakfast by 7:45. It's pretty rough if I must say myself. There's no time to sleep in when we have a full day of activities planned. We usually hang around in the main hall for a while just playing games and talking about our goals as a team before we head out to canoeing. It literally takes 3 hours to canoe down the river. Lets just say all we wanted to do was sleep when we got back. After that we hang around until dinner. Right after dinner we play a game called predator vs. pray. It's probably one of the funnest games ever. It's pretty much a huge game of man hunt. Before the bonfire, we have a talent show for anyone to do anything. This year, a group of girls including myself made up a dance to a mash up of different songs. It made everyone laugh...and of course someone took a video of it. Then when it gets dark out we go down to a little lake and start the bonfire. This is my favorite part because we play a game called Mafia. Then we head back to our cabins just to hang out and have "girl" talk before we finally call it a night.
More of the LGW gang.
On the last day there we have to get up, eat breakfast, and head out. Before we go the whole team stops at the entrance sign and takes pictures. I'm going to miss going there every summer even though it's just for a weekend. When we get home everyone seems so much closer since before we left. We become closer with new people and our team becomes stronger because of it. I just recently found out that this year we aren't going back there for my senior year:( Instead we're just going to some church and doing who knows what. I'm kind of super upset because it will be my last year and now we don't have an official team bonding. Karen Krause and I had an idea of doing a ropes course or going to Kalahari instead. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens! Overall, I think that team bonding retreats are great for every team. I know I love them just cause we're pretty much go crazy!!
Food, food, food, and more food. When you're an athlete all we want to do is eat. We are hungry before games, after games, even in between games. Usually, every team has organized dinners together. Every season we have about six team dinners hosted either at a teammates house or in the high school commons. They range from Mexican tacos to breakfast for dinner. Breakfast for dinner by far is the favorite amongst the team. It first started when I was a freshman. My mom, Karen's mom, and Molly's mom all decided we should do a breakfast dinner. Since then we have done three and we hope the tradition will continue.
The dinner includes a wide variety of foods. The best are the pancakes prepared every year by my dad. Did I mention these pancakes are chocolate chip? I must say they're pretty tasty. There are also plain pancakes, but those are for the squares. Of course we have tons of sides as well. We have blueberry, chocolate chip, and cinnamon muffins. There's also sausage and bacon. For drinks we have CHOCOLATE MILK, and orange juice. Chocolate milk is the most commonly chosen just cause it's so good.
Overall team dinners are fun because we eat delicious food, and get to mess around with each other. At our first team dinner we had someone pierce some other girls ear. Everyone was crowded around watching. It was pretty interesting to say the least. Besides that we all just like to talk as a team since we normally don't get to do that when we are on the field. We are all just our crazy selves when we hang out together. Team dinners are a great way to bring everyone together after a hard workout on the field. Whenever we have one scheduled, it just makes me work harder as practice knowing we get to eat right after. I think we can all agree team dinners are fantastic for many different, but all good, reason!!
Shoes, shin pads, socks, shorts, shirts, pre wrap, and a lot of hair ties. If you go in a soccer bag these are just a few of the items you'll find. During the summer I live in soccer clothes. I don't even want to begin to list the amount of shorts/t-shirts I have. Alright so I'm going to start off with shorts. Let's see there's running shorts and soccer shorts. These are two completely different types so don't get them confused. I wear running shorts a lot for conditioning sessions we have in the morning. As for the open plays, I will wear soccer shorts. I would say I have an equal amount of both of these two types. I personally like running shorts because they have so many different colors!
Soccer Shorts.
Running shorts.
Since I've already talked about shoes in my last blog, we can move on to shirts. I don't think I've ever actually gone out to the store to buy a t-shirt. You just don't do that. I have accumulated so many t-shirts over the years from different camps, games, and races. I honestly think if I counted all of them up I would have over 50. They're all different and I can remember when I first got all of them. I just keep adding to my collection each year.
Soccer Girl Problems t-shirt. I really want one.
I would show a picture of all the shirts I have but I really don't want to take them all out and have to put them back. So next are socks. As a team we have uniform socks we wear. They are white Adidas. Boring right. I mean why not pick a super fun color sock and have everyone wear that?
You have to admit these are sweet.
Oh and to go under these socks, we have to wear shin guards. Yep they're pretty annoying. They just get all sweaty and gross. Anyways, they really are not fun or cool or anything. I hope you've enjoyed reading about soccer clothing and all the great necessities we have. One last pic of pre wrap just for fun. I mean there's so many different colors you can wear it with anything!!
If you're a girl and play soccer, I'm sure you've heard of SoccerGrlProbs. Just in case you haven't, they describe the life of a soccer girl to the dime. They started off as a twitter account and now have 2 YouTube videos that have gotten over 2 million views, and a clothing website. When I first saw their twitter account, I couldn't stop reading all of their tweets. They were so funny and I could relate to almost all of them!
They describe every girl soccer player.
At almost every practice, their would be at least one soccer girl problem quote. And once a quote was said, they kept going on and on and on. Every time a girl would say one, everyone else would start cracking up with laughter because we all knew exactly what they were talking about. I remember one time we had a practice where the video had just come out the day before and we couldn't stop quoting them! It pretty much drove our coach insane but it was so funny we couldn't stop! If you want to know what I'm talking about then you should probably go watch it.
It pretty much describes a soccer girls life.
In continuation to this video, there is a part 2. I definitely like this one better but the other is just as good!
We all know how crazy referees can be, so just to be a little clearer these girls also made a video called Refs Do the Darndest Things. Might I say that this one was pretty funny as well. It really just shows how insane refs can be.
It's too funny.
In addition to the videos their online website for clothing is pretty awesome as well. My favorite shirt that they sell says "I can't I have soccer". I've said that plenty of times before. Its fun just to think of all of the hilarious things they've said and relate them to the times they've happened to you. Once a soccer girl, always a soccer girl-and the problems that come along with it.
Soccer cleats that is. Every year it comes time when we all go out to pick what cleats we will wear for the season. Trust me; it's a pretty big deal. You must have a thought process when choosing the right pair. I don't know a single player who's just gone out and bought a pair of cleats without giving it any thought. You have to know your size, what color you want, and what brand you like the best. If you don't put this much detail into choosing the right cleats, you probably shouldn't be playing soccer.
Look how much they love their cleats.
In my three soccer seasons playing at the high school, the only kinds of cleats I have worn are Nike Mercurial's. They are by far the best cleats I have ever owned. They are so comfy and I love the designs that are on them. I can't even look at the other brands when I go out to buy new one's. Some might wonder if it's weird that I'm so picky about the shoes I choose to wear, but I've asked my teammates if they love them as much as I do, and every one of them has said yes. It's just what we do.
Freshman year shoes.
Sophmore year shoes.
Junior year shoes.
Just look at them. They are SO fun. The thing that I like about all of them is that they're all different! I literally love my shoes. Maybe I have a weird obsession, but what soccer girl wouldn't? If you love your shoes, you're going to love the game. You have to be crazy not to care about what your shoes look like. If you have ugly cleats, just know that you're going to be judged. And, if you wear super cool neon cleats, people are going to think you're amazing, so you better be. That's just the way we think. If it were my job to create soccer shoes for a living, I would. I guess that's just another soccer girl problem to add to the never ending list.
Back
before it became all about how good you can be every minute you play, I fell in
love with the game of soccer. I remember my first pair of soccer cleats and how
excited I was for my first game. We would go to "practice" and play
games such as sharks and minnows, lightning, world cup, and master blaster. I
mean what kid didn't love going and just messing around the entire time? I know
I loved it. It was all about having fun and being with your friends. Yeah so,
during the games we looked like we were completely lost, but we were having fun
while doing it!
My first jersey! I realized that number 20 will be my first number and last number in my soccer carreer because it's my high school number now!
We were just little babies back then.
I remember all these girls saying that when they grow up they wanted to be professional soccer players. Trust me I was one of those girls. I remember being a ball girl for the high school varsity games thinking all of them were SO big, fast, and amazing at soccer. Now when I see the ball girls that come to the games for us, it feels like it was yesterday. It's weird to think that I was doing the exact same thing, chasing the balls around feeling so cool when you got to throw it back to one of the players. I remembered how much I wanted to look like them when I finally got my chance to play on the high school field.
Yes I know it's not me when I was 7, but it was Throwback Thursday so it seems appropriate to include in this blog.
Other members of the team joined in for TBT.
I think that every parent should
allow their kids to try soccer. I know I've thanked my parents for getting me
into it because I don't know what other sport I would enjoy more than this one.
And on a side note, I would probably be super fat and eat everything all day
every day if it were not for soccer. Anyways, I loved it as a kid and I still
love today every time I put on my uniform. :)
